Dr. Thomas A. Hart was born on August 18, 1905 in Argentina while his parents worked as missionaries there. Hart was sent to live with his grandparents in the United States at the age of ten and in 1922 he joined to Marine Corps, serving in Haiti during the American occupation. After his time in the Marine Corps, Hart attended William and Mary College where he received his B.S. degree in 1930. He later obtained an M.A. Ed. degree and a M.S. degree from Emory University and a Ph.D. in parasitology from the University of Chicago. Around this period, Hart married a woman named Jeanelle.

Hart worked at West Georgia College from 1933 to 1942, becoming the institution’s first biology professor. During his tenure at WGC, Hart also served as the chairperson to the Department of Science and led annual trips to Tuskegee University along with fellow faculty member Robert M. Strozier.

After leaving WGC, Hart also held numerous positions with the U.S. Agency for International Development in the area of education, serving in areas such as Haiti, Brazil, and Bolivia. In 1968, Hart began to work at the University of Pittsburgh as professor of international and developmental education. He stayed at Pittsburgh until his retirement in 1976, although he maintained professor emeritus status.

Hart married his second wife, Catherine Royer, in 1976 and chose to retire to the Horizon House in Seattle, Washington in 1983. After Catherine passed away in 1985, Hart married his third wife, Dorothy, in 1986. Both of them remained at Horizon House, where Hart served on the Health Committee and the Sunday Musicale Committee. He also taught Spanish at the retirement home for ten years. Hart passed away on March 25, 1994.